June 20, 2013 9:57 am

An indicator of how slow the NFL news is this time of the year, ESPN.com just released its NFL power rankings – for the year 2016. Get your bets down early, the panel of experts considers the Seattle Seahawks the third-best team, trailing rival San Francisco at No. 1 and Green Bay at No. 2. (Nostradamus had the Seahawks ahead of the Packers).

The projections are based on expected strength of roster, quarterback, draft, front office and coaching. The problems of such a challenge are obvious, and extend beyond the premise itself. But the relative expectations are fair extensions of current franchise strengths, even though so little in the NFL has a predictable shelf life.

Perhaps of more interest than the rankings of the Niners and Hawks is that the panel expects St. Louis to be a solid contender by then, having benefited greatly from the draft picks the Rams received in the trade that allowed Washington to draft RGIII last spring. They rank the 2016 the Rams at No. 8. It’s not hard to imagine as the Rams (4-1-1) had the best record in NFC West play last season.

Between the Niners and Hawks, San Francisco was rated slightly better in the categories of roster, draft, front office and coaching. They were rated the same at quarterback, expecting Colin Kaepernick and Russell Wilson to be equally productive three seasons from now.

At Seahawks.com, Clare Farnsworth shapes a story about the value of reserve players. The thrust of the story, though, is the remarkable good fortune the Hawks had last season in regards to team health. Nine defenders and eight offensive players started at least 15 games in 2012.

Mike Sando’s NFC West blog offers some interesting comparisons among league quarterbacks based on total quarterback ratings (QBR) over the past three seasons. In contrast to the traditional NFL passer rating, the QBR factors in situational data assessing the importance and timeliness of certain plays. A score of 100 is the maximum, and a 90 is reached or exceeded only 10 percent of the time. Sando looked at scores of 90 or better the past three seasons. Despite having only 16 starts, Russell Wilson had five games at 90+. For comparison, that’s three fewer than Eli Manning in 48 games, one fewer than Joe Flacco in 48 starts, or as many as Matt Schaub in 42 starts.

Wilson’s numbers are even more impressive as a percentage of such performances per start, Peyton Manning (10 in 32) reached that level 31.3 percent of the time to share the top spot with Wilson (5-16). Rodgers (30.4), Brady (27.1) and Brees (22.9) followed.

A link out of Seahawks.com expands on the new NFL bag policy at league stadiums. Jeff Miller (NFL chief security officer) said that public safety is the driving force behind the policy, and cited the attack at the Boston Marathon as an influence. The effort, he said, is to balance fan safety with the quality of stadium experience. He added that a number of teams are going to roll over the policy to include training camp practices as well.

Brock and Danny at 710ESPN Seattle offered quick opinions on the question of how being the subject of the HBO series “Hard Knocks” would have affected the Seahawks. While the Seahawks would make great theater, Danny O’Neil correctly points out how invasive and potentially disruptive the behind-closed-doors coverage would be.

They also furthered their discussion on the Pro Football Talk’s polls on which four icons belonged on the franchise’s Mount Rushmore. In addition to the three obvious choices (Largent, Jones and Tez) Danny thinks Shaun Alexander should be on it, a nod to the fact that he’s the only league MVP in team history. Brock goes with Easley. I’m with Brock, although I think I wouldn’t go to the expense of chiseling a fourth face on the mountain just yet. The PFT vote put Alexander on the mountain, with the 12th man finishing fifth.

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About

Gregg Bell joined The News Tribune in July 2014. Bell had been the director of writing for the University of Washington's athletic department for four years. He was the senior national sports writer in Seattle for The Associated Press from 2005-10, covering the Seahawks in their first Super Bowl season and beyond. He's also been The Sacramento Bee's beat writer on the Oakland Athletics and Raiders. The native of Steubenville, Ohio, is a 1993 graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., and a 2000 graduate of the University of California, Berkeley's Graduate School of Journalism.

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Mayan calendar… lol. Looks like its going to be a looong month until training camp starts… ha.

Seriously, Thanks Dave. In truth, I’m impressed by the great reporting we are getting during the slow season. Including here and also the great stuff by Claire over at seahawks.com. Lots of good battles to watch among the second-tier players. Camp should be exciting from day one.

Questions — Is Russell Wilson still camped out at the VMAC in the film room? Does he take a break? Is TJack back here working out for the summer?

Stevos- I heard RW did in fact take a whole weekend off after the last ota.

Slave, I was just kidding last thread, only cuz you mention that us right wingers piss you off, only teasing bro–. I have actually softened my distaste for the left -leaners of late. We all believe what we believe for our own reasons… At the end of the day, we all want the same thing, kinda like us Seahawk fans.. A strong safe country, and an ass kicking football team. Just different opinions on how to achieve both…

Agreed on the second string/ back-ups, and the position battles that will be taking place. Will guys like Jaye Howard have an advantage over the new kids, Williams ans Hill? Does a year in the system make a difference for guys like Too,er and Smith?

According to Sando’s stats, Russell Wilson achieves a QBR of 90+ at the same rate as Peyton Manning: 31.3 percent of the time. He also tied Peyton’s rookie TD record. Peyton spurned Pete Carroll’s efforts to sign him — and instead the Seahawks ended up with a nice consolation prize.

Actually, the best way to keep tabs on some of these guys is to subscribe to their tweets. I see Wilson (@DangeRussWilson) is having his camp in Virginia soon (www.ThePassingAcademy.com), and Jon Ryan (@JonRyan9) is having a golf tournament north of the border. I saw that Sherman (@RSherman_25) and ET recently taped a segment on the Sports Science show. They claimed to both have broken the show’s record for a 20-yard dash. It was interesting when Marshawn (@MoneyLynch) was on there last season, so it’s something to keep an eye out for.

I find it appropriate that RW has an “academy” while most others call it a “camp.”

I haven’t asked him this, but I also suspect Ryan is a good golfer. Watching him practice punt placement is an amazing display of accuracy. In some ways, it seems like he’s directing a wedge shot.

The problems with Alexander on the mountain are obvious … I think a lot of us thought his effort waned noticeably late in his stay. That tints my opinion a bit. Two recent HOF RBs, Curtis Martin (14,101 yards) and Marshall Faulk (12,279) both had considerably more yards than SA (9,453). With Largent and Tez already in the HOF, and Walter soon to be, it’s hard to put someone else on the mythical mountain who isn’t in the HOF and might be a long shot. This debate, by the way, is another contrived off-season space-filler.

Easley is another of those (like ET and Thurmond whom we mentioned leaping over blocking dummies yesterday) who could do things on the field that seemed superhuman. Easley one time did one of those two-footed bounds over the chain-link fence at the practice field in Cheney. He also was in such condition that, in addition to two daily practices in the Cheney heat, also would sneak over to Indian Canyon golf course and fit in a quick 9 holes of golf on occasion.

I’d like to vote for John L. Williams for my Hawkrushmore – he was the first pass-catching RB I can remember ever. Marshall Faulk, LaDanian Tomlinson and Roger Craig came after John L. WIlliams. One of my all-time favorite Hawks.

Sluggish–no prob, and I don’t fit with the liberal set any more than I do the far right, nor can I claim to be a moderate. I don’t feel any one group fits me as I tend to think for myself and am suspicious of labels and groupthink. I suspect many feel similar, whether or not we disagree on certain issues.

I think most of us want to be free to be ourselves and live as we see fit, as long as we aren’t infringing on another’s rights. That, and we all want to win super bowls vs Pitt, Denver, and the Patsies!

John L is a good call, he was on my Seahawks trivia calendar this week!

In addition to the draft contest that Eric runs, a fun contest might be an over/under where we all can pick some # of teams (or maybe all teams)and take their over/under win totals based on current vegas lines.

Last I heard the Pats were set at 11.5 and I unless it’s gone down since the Gronk and possible Hernandez issue, I would go huge on the under there.

John L. Good call. Should be in the Ring of Honor IMHO
The best comment I have ever heard about Easley was from Jack Patera “it’s like watching a man play with boys!”
I think Zorn and RW bumping together would be good for the Hawks, but I’m biased.

I say we get started now on Mount Hawkmore, get Largent and Tez up there, start working on Walter so his face can be there once he’s in the HOF. Then get to work on two more faces and wait for their busts to be placed in the HOF before they get their place on Mount Hawkmore… reserve one spot for Easley, and the other for a certain as-yet-to-mature HOF quarterback. He should be ready to go up there in 15 or 20 years.

While Seattle has not won a SB, it wasnt easy to choose 4 Mt. Rushmore candidates. I thought Dave Krieg, Matt Hasselbeck, John L. Williams, and Kenny Easley all would be excellent choices for the fourth head.

I personally don’t know anyone who’s old enough to have seen both Easley and Alexander play, that is (or would) place Alexander ahead of Easley on a list (basically what this Rushmore exercise is) of great Seahawks. And while that may be interpreted as a knock on SA, it’s not intended to be. It is however a comment on just how incredibly dominant Easley was. IMO, after Walt, he was the single most dominating player in franchise history (and yes, I realize that places him ahead of my other boyhood idol, Largent.)

I’d put Paul Allen on Mount Hawkmore. That right there is a true Seahawk hero, it’s easy to argue that he should be above ALL others.

In the end as a fan, what I’m looking for is someone who is committed to the Hawks, who loves the Hawks like I do, and who helped further their cause. I never saw that in Shawn.

# 71 agreed to restructure his contract to fight the bullsh*t poison pill

#96 I know at one point said something like he always wanted to be a Seahawk (later in his career). You can tell this in his HOF induction speech.

#80 nothing needs to be said. He is Mr. Seahawk

Shawn Alexander doesn’t even get to the goddamn foothills of Mount Hawkmore. He wouldn’t play hurt. He was about his own stats. My personal feeling (backed up by 2nd hand rumors) is that he signed his extension knowing he had an injury. Anyone who thinks he should be there doesn’t know what it means to be a lifelong Hawk fan.

Kenny Easley was just like Ronnie Lott, only tougher and meaner.
Shawna… He avoided contact like the plague, I think he could have had a ton of additional yardage had he owned a sac. He was plenty big enough to hammer all those little DBs he used to jump out of bounds to avoid hitting. That’s why we love ML, he brings it to the D, big or small, he smacks Em all.
Erob- I remember being so disappointed in him…

Dave Kreig = John Kitna

Largent, perhaps one of my favorites, and I’ll never forget him blowing up that guy.
MattyH…. We want the ball, and were gunna score!

Wow. Some fans here seem to almost have zero respect for what Alexander did for this team. I’m not saying he should be on the shrine above Walt, Largent, Tez or Easley, but to not even deserve to be in the ROH? That’s a fringing joke. Just look at the list of rushing leaders in the Hawks’ history. He’s on top, and it’s not even close. He scored 112 TDs in his career. That’s EFFING 14th in the HISTORY of the game. Do you think the Hawks make it to the SB in 2005 without him? Maurice Morris could’ve done well enough behind that line? Give me a break. Emmitt Smith ran behind a great line too.

P.S. No, I am NOT saying that Alexander was in the same class as Smith.

Nate,
I liked Shawn A, thought he was great. I just thought if he had a mean streak, he coulda really attained serious numbers, but perhaps avoiding the big hits extended his career, who knows. That’s all..

Sluggo, whether or not avoiding contact extended his career is something we’ll never know. People don’t seem to consider it though for some reason. I think it may be that he seemed to avoid contact more after he got paid.

I think it’s highly questionable whether or not he makes the HOF, I think he’ll have to wait awhile if he does, and I wouldn’t put him on Mount Hawkmore above the 4 mentioned above. But I don’t understand how someone could think he’s not even worthy of the ROH. I think he would’ve been a shoe in for the HOF if he had another good year or two.

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